Make a Plan. Stick to it.

By Cadet Andrew Lewis

﻿When you start college, take on a job and make a decision to commit to ROTC it suddenly becomes apparent that you no longer have free time. I’ve found myself looking back on my High School days when I thought I “had no time” realizing I actually had tons of time on my hands. It’s funny how that works. So on top of all these commitments and a general lack of time you also have to take into consideration what every Cadet has to do, every semester… the PFA. And more so than that we just need to stay in shape and be healthy.

Everyone’s heard it… PT-ing twice a week won’t get you ready for a PFA and it certainly won’t get you in shape, but with as little free time as we all have and as difficult as it may be to drag ourselves to the gym at times, how do we keep on track with our personal PT schedules? Being a cross town Cadet, and no longer having the option of organized PT at SIUE I had to make a choice. I have an option. I don’t have to plan my classes to a particular schedule to afford myself a particular slot to do PT in. However, what I do have to do, and this is the most important thing I want anyone to get out of this, is know my own schedule. That is the key, know what your schedule is, find that free block of time and devote it to PT.

So what this means is if you only have an hour free at 0500 in the morning you had better get yourself to the gym at that time. This commitment is on you! If you normally workout at a certain time in the evening, you can’t let a spur of the moment invite to go out with your friends interfere with that. Your responsibility to stay in shape is more than for yourself; it is for the Air Force. We have to be fit to fight! So if you are doing personal workouts as either a cross-town or now SLU commuters who are treated the same, that means 1 hour, 4 times a week minimum. Plan those times and make that something that you will not allow anything else to interrupt.

Something that I’ve found to help myself and I recommend it to you is, to set those times to an alarm on your phone. That way you have a constant reminder in case you do forget your workout schedule. That at least accounts for human error.

I’ve been doing this personal workout system for two years now and in all I’ve found it to be relatively easy to stick to. As long as I know when I’m working out I can always make sure to do it. Everyone has their own method of working out and it is up to that person to decide whether they feel more comfortable doing personal workouts or PT sessions. As I say this, just realize even if you are working out at formal PT sessions you still need to incorporate your own supplemental workout plan.